The sun shone in the warm summer air. Children laughed and played with glee as their parents looked on. Couples were sharing ice cream cones while engaging in casual conversation. And people dressed in business attire were on their usual lunch breaks, stopping in restaurants along the street for a quick bite to eat before it was back to the daily grind.
Just another average day in Toronto, Canada.
But Odd Squad is anything but average.
Deep underground lied the headquarters of an organization, one that had become famous around the world for its numerous feats of heroism and perseverance -- and one that had branches around the world as well. Children of every age, from 1 to 12 years, mulled around, some carrying folders, others afflicted with odd happenings, such as a bright green glow or a fish for an arm. Adults usually accompanied the children, and most, if not all of them were afflicted by oddness in one way or another. Phones rang, and conversation filled the air.
A boy was sitting at his desk, reading a comic book from a series known as 'Shmumberman', an easy rip of Batman. On his ears were a pair of headphones, with the Odd Squad emblem engraved on both sides. A boy band named 'Soundcheck' and a song known as 'Probably' blared into his ears, drowning out the noise around him.
The automatic doors opened, and a girl stepped through. Her chocolate-brown eyes set sight on the boy, and she raced for his desk in a huff, slamming her hands down.
"Partner!"
No response.
"Partner!!"
Still no response.
"OTTO!"
The boy looked up from his comic, and upon spotting his partner, he pressed 'Pause' on his music player and took off his headphones. "Oh, hey, Olive! What's up?"
"Have you heard the news?!"
"What news?"
"I was on my break, walking along in Dufferin Grove Park after getting some lunch. And I saw a portal!"
Otto blinked a few times, before his brain processed what she was saying. "What?! Did you get rid of it?"
Olive shook her head. "That's the problem. I can't. I tried every portal-removal gadget I had. Nothing worked!"
"Not even the Un-Portal-inator?"
"Not even that!"
Otto got up from his chair with a determined look on his face, and angled his head up to an office on the balcony. "Then let's go see Ms. O."
Upon entering the second-floor office, Olive and Otto were met with a face that was familiar to most every employee at Odd Squad: a girl, who looked about the age of 7 but that in truth was millennia of years old, possibly immortal (not that anyone could prove that theory). Her piercing brown eyes bore into Olive and Otto, making them visibly wince while she loudly sipped from an apple-flavored juice box.
She set the juice box down. "This had better be important."
Otto nodded, while Olive did the talking. "Uh, y-yes, Ms. O. This is very important." She took a moment to take a breath and regain her usual cool composure. "I was on break and I spotted a portal down in Dufferin Grove Park. I tried to remove the portal with various portal-removal gadgets, even trying counteractive gadgets. But nothing has worked."
"Has anything come out of the portal?"
Olive shook her head. "No, not that I know of. When I gazed into the portal, all I could see was a quaint street, with rows of houses. It didn't look anything like the houses here, or even the streets here. It looked..." The girl took a moment to try and find the right word to cap off her explanation. "Cartoonish."
Ms. O gazed at Olive for a bit longer, her ice-cold stare being replaced by a stare of curiosity. Before she could speak, however, Olive piped up with another bit of info she had forgotten.
"Oh! There were also ponies there. Ponies, just...walking around. They didn't look anything like the ponies we have. These ponies were...um...smaller. Some were unicorns and others were pegasus...es."
"Pegasi." Otto corrected her, wearing a small smile on his face.
Olive nodded as a way of silent thanks, and continued with her story. "I tried calling out to them, but they didn't answer me. They just walked on by without even saying hello."
"Hmm..." Ms. O took a moment to think, breaking her gaze from Olive and Otto to look downwards in thought. "These ponies don't seem all that dangerous. For all we know, they're pretty harmless. But a portal in such an open place as a park isn't a good thing."
Olive and Otto kept their eyes on Ms. O, who fell silent, still pondering over her decision. Finally, after a few more seconds, they got their answer.
"I'll send some Security agents down to the park to secure the portal right away. Perhaps there's a way to bring the portal back down to Headquarters without disturbing it. We can't have anyone going through it -- and that includes anyone from Odd Squad. We don't know what this portal does or how it affects people who go through it." She exhaled. "I want you two to assist the Security agents with the portal if, and when, they manage to bring it down to Headquarters."
Otto nodded. "Sure thing, Ms. O."
"Now what are you waiting for? GO!" Shouting her trademark catchphrase, Ms. O sent Olive and Otto scurrying out of her office as she watched them go, grabbing her juice box and continuing to drink it, a pleased expression falling on her face as she did so.
A rather tall pony with an ethereal mane of green, pink and blue hovered in the air, flapping her giant wings. Her long horn glowed yellow for a few brief seconds before a bright yellow laser shot out, hitting the portal. However, the strong magic did nothing to it. The pony landed, a soft sigh escaping her lips before she was joined by a much shorter pony with an ethereal mane of blue, a darker shade than the other pony's.
"Any luck on removing the portal, my dear sister?" the pony with the mane of blue inquired, gazing at it worryingly.
"I'm afraid not, Luna. None of my magic is working."
Luna let a sigh escape her lips as well. "Then I suppose the best we can do is rope it off and make sure no ponies have gone in."
"Actually...I have a plan. Gather Twilight and her friends and tell them to come to Canterlot to see me right away."
"Right away, sister."
And with that, the taller, white-furred pony took to the skies with large flaps of her wings. Her sister watched until she was nothing more than a speck in the sky, before looking ahead to where a crystalline castle lay in the distance. But before she went, she decided to take a look at the happenings of the portal.
Gazing at it, Luna watched as the setting seemed to change to a roomy headquarters, as though the portal had a camera strapped to it. It was like an alternate world, like the inside of the magic mirror Twilight had used long ago -- similar creatures and everything. Mouths were moving, but the alicorn couldn't make out what anyone was saying. She watched as two creatures -- one with two legs and a corkscrew ponytail wearing a navy-blue suit, and another, more taller creature, with two legs and shorter hair, with the same suit -- looked into the portal. I wonder if they can see me. I can see them, but I cannot understand them. Can they understand me?
Luna shook her head. No. I must find Twilight and her friends and send them through this portal. Hopefully, we will find some way to close it. And maybe...find some way to figure out what is on the other side.